Jazz Articles about Charlie Parker

Why Bird Still Lives

by AAJ Staff
December 17, 2003

Charlie Parker. Charlie Parker has been discussed over and over, at least until recently. The Wynton-Crouch Clique has successfully, and I think, usefully, revived discussion and analysis of pre-bop geniuses Armstrong and Ellington. And on the post- bop side, you find lively exchanges regarding Miles and Coltrane. I don't think we should wait until Bird's centennial in 2020 to take a fresh look at his music. My contention is that the jazz world has yet to fully come to grips ...

Charlie Parker: Jam Sessions

by John Ballon
October 29, 2003

Charlie “Bird" Parker was a peerless musician who needs no further introduction. Despite his vast discography, there are few good-sounding recordings where the majority of the tunes run any more than 5 minutes in length. Jam Sessions is one of the notable exceptions. Backed by an all-star band (including such giants as Johnny Hodges, Ben Webster, Benny Carter, and Oscar Peterson), Parker stretches with leisurely exuberance across lengthy jams (every track is over 13 minutes). The assembled talent really come ...

Charlie Parker: Best of The Complete Live Performances on Savoy

by Charlie B. Dahan
July 16, 2002

Another exciting reissue from the 60th birthday celebration of Savoy Records is a Charlie Parker live concert recording. The album culminates three separate performances broadcast over radio from the aptly named Royal Roost Club (a/k/a The Metropolitan Bopera) in New York City. The recording displays Parker at his most vital and without a doubt at his finest. Surrounded by a stellar group at each appearance, Parker navigates his group through such standards as “Scrapple from the Apple,” ...

Charlie Parker: Bird: Motion Picture Soundtrack

by Jim Santella
April 12, 2002

They're Bird's alto saxophone solos that we hear all through the soundtrack. Not someone else. Charles McPherson was only added to three of the songs, as a member of the ensemble. Musical director Lennie Niehaus didn't play alto sax for the film. He taught several actors to play the instrument for their roles (with the sound removed). It's the stuff dreams are made of. Director Clint Eastwood's technical people started with valuable Charlie Parker recordings, subtracted all sounds except Parker's, ...

Charlie Parker: The Washington Concerts

by Michael Fortuna
July 1, 2001

Only Bird could make a plastic saxophone sound amazing.Charlie Parker, the virtuoso alto saxophonist who started the bebop movement in jazz, gave a jaw-dropping performance with Joe Timer's orchestra at the Club Kavakos in Washington, D.C. in 1953.Eight songs taken from that concert (where Parker played a plastic saxophone) were released in 1983 by Elektra Records. Recently, producer Bill Potts has unearthed two more D.C. concerts (both from the Howard Theater), and Blue Note Records has ...

Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy And Dial Studio Recordings: 1944-1948

by Jim Santella
February 1, 2001

Technology is changing as fast as our dress codes change cycles. And yet, we still manage to settle in with the things we like. Whether it’s from vinyl to compact disc, VHS to DVD, or simply from form-fitting blue jeans to baggy counterparts, we do enjoy what stays around. With this 8-CD set, seasoned collectors can fill in the gaps. Newer collectors should find the set to be an invaluable piece of history. After all, Charlie Parker and the other ...

Charlie Parker: The Complete Savoy and Dial Studio Recordings (1944

by C. Michael Bailey
January 1, 2001

On the heels of Louis Armstrong: The Complete Hot Fives and Sevens Savoy releases another seminal chapter in the development of Jazz.

If Louis Armstrong’s The Complete Hot Fives and Sevens can be seen as Moses’ contribution to the Old Testament, then certainly Charlie Parker’s mid 1940s recordings for Savoy and Dial can be seen as the one of the New Testament’s Gospels (perhaps John. Extending the metaphor to its logical conclusion, John Coltrane would have provided Revelations). Like Scripture, ...